Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the Greater Geelong City Council held at the Council Conference and Reception Centre in City Hall, 30 Gheringhap Street, Geelong on 28 February 2017, commencing at 6:30pm.
Ruth Sutherland
Cherre Hawkins
Vicky Grosser and Sharelle McGuirk
Michael Exton
Jennifer Bantow
Fiona Conroy
Lex and Lola Gugger
Alison Williams
Peter Dowling
Judy Fyfe
Reiny Nieuwenhof
Dr Kathy Alexander (Chair), L Gardner, P Dorling.
K Spiller (Chief Executive Officer)
L Hill (Acting General Manager Strategy and Performance)
T Hellsten (Acting General Manager Planning and Development)
B Luxford (General Manager Investment and Attraction)
W Tieppo (General Manager City Services)
L Quinn (General Manager Community Life)
A Keen (Executive Manager People and Organisational Development)
A Grant (Property Advisor)
T McDonald (Manager Customer Service and Council Business)
R Leonard (Snr Manager Legal Services & Governance)
The Chair declared the meeting open at 6:30pm.
Council acknowledges Wadawurrung Traditional Owners of this land and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People who are part of the Greater Geelong community today.
Nil.
L Gardner moved, P Dorling seconded -
That the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 24 January 2017 be confirmedt.
Carried.
Nil.
Question Time is an opportunity for questions to be addressed to Council and while the minutes record the general content, they do not purport to be a transcript of what was said by individuals. Likewise, the Interim Administrator or Officer verbal responses are in summary form only. Views expressed may not be the views of Council.
Council's practice is to provide a separate document on its website setting out questions and responses including any more detailed written responses which may be provided subsequent to the meeting.
Ruth Sutherland asked can Heritage or Design & Development Overlay reviews please be conducted on the section of Geelong West not included at present? This area is between Pakington Street and Shannon Avenue and up to the boundary at Church Street.
At the moment there are weatherboard homes of significant historical value in this area being which are able to be demolished at any time and/or re-developed into units, sub divisions or modern homes.
This is concerning for residents as increasing development and traffic volumes are affecting the character of this area which should be included, preserved and protected, as is the rest of Geelong West and surrounding suburbs including Newtown and Drumcondra.
Kathy Alexander noted the question.
Cherre Hawkins asked questions relating to Item 4 of the reports: Sale of Land to the Roman Catholic Trust - Peninsula Drive, Drysdale. Administrators, the recent community update highlights that part of your Administrator-ship role is to bring a change of culture and good governance to the City of Greater Geelong.
As my understanding is that the Council has entered into conversation with the proposed buyer and undertaken a tabletop review of the Potato Shed Master Plan (in the absence of including the Potato Shed Committee of Management). This is one matter that I am aware. The RCT is entitled to seek to purchase the land for expansion. The COGG is entitled to consider selling the land. As a resident (and a previous objector to the original proposal), my expectation is that any review or consideration be open for discussion and include the relevant stakeholders!
My question is: how does this perceived practice of operating behind closed doors, show transparency and integrity in the Council's daily operation and decision making processes and give confidence to us residents?
Kathy Alexander noted the question.
Vicky Grosser - Geelong One Fire Reconciliation Group and Sharelle McGuirk - Board Member Wathaurong Cooperative thanked Council for the acceptance of the revised Terms of Reference for the Karreenga Aboriginal Advisory Committee and provided comments in relation to Committee representation.
Michael Exton asked the following questions on behalf o the Board Members of St Ignatius College in relation to Agenda Item 4 – Sale of Land to Roman Catholic Trust – Peninsula Drive, Drysdale:
A broad range of community groups have or currently use College facilities. The College’s proposed building project on this land will ensure we have the room to continue this and expand that community support. For example, the multi purpose hall we propose to build on this site could be used by community sporting groups.
This important project is vital for the continued strength and growth of education in the Geelong region. Demand for places in our schools continues to grow and we know that families move to Geelong and the Bellarine want great education facilities. We need to be able to provide quality school facilities to attract them and then have places for them.
This project represents an investment of $9ml into the local economy and supports Council’s vision for a ‘greater Geelong’ by further strengthening this great education and community precinct.
St Ignatius is a member of the Potato Shed Committee of Management and a financial contributor to this important performing arts and community facility.
St Ignatius is proud of this unique partnership with Bellarine Secondary College and the City of Greater Geelong and has always worked for the improvement and development of the Potato Shed.
Kathy Alexander acknowledged the comments.
Jennifer Bantow asked if GEN Fyansford can be required to maintain and restore the heritage listed old Swan Inn at Fyansford after arsonists set fire to the building?
Tim Hellsten took the question on notice.
Fiona Conroy asked questions in relation to the Saleyards:
The City of Greater Geelong has said it will establish a Saleyards Advisory Committee and that this Committee would meet before the end of February. It is now the end of February and the Saleyards Advisory Committee has still not been appointed, let alone met.
Can you please explain why this delay has taken place?
Can you also please let livestock producers know when a Saleyards Advisory Committee will be appointed and meet?
William Tieppo acknowledged the process was behind schedule and advised there have been eight submissions to the Advisory Committee and these will be considered this week.
Council is looking to appoint committee members and have the first meeting scheduled during the first two weeks of March.
The following comment was presented on behalf of Lex and Lola Gugger:
Thank you for the work to date on the sheep section of the Geelong Saleyards. Being able to sell sheet in Geelong has made a significant difference for the Gugger family, both financially and physically, saving two trips to Ballarat which had significant costs in time and expenses.
Alison Williams raised the following questions about the OH & S Issues at the Saleyards:
“Vicki Shelton responded that Council conducts OH & S inspections on a monthly (staff amenities), and six monthly (yards and surrounds) basis”.
How can the Administrators accept there has been adequate Council inspections at the Saleyards when the Safetzone report for November 2016 states there is, “no Occupational Health and Safety Management system in place”.
Can Council please also post the reports of the OH & S inspections referred to by Vicki Shelton on the Saleyards website?
William Tieppo responded there is a lot of history and reports about the state of the facility and we are moving towards addressing these concerns in terms of finding out costs to identify what to address in relation to OH & S concerns. We do have a full OH&S manual for the site in place.
Kathy Alexander added the Administrators have spent quite a lot of time at the Saleyards recently and I have to say I don’t believe there has ever been any major investment in the Saleyards, but what we can’t do is we can’t go back 50 years and indeed some of the farmers thought it wasn’t too bad. Lots of small jobs have been completed by our staff to meet OH & S requirements.
The Saleyards hasn’t been a major priority of the previous Councils and I take your point and see everyone is a bit resentful of the site, however we need to be sure that risk management and effective OH and S standards and asset management going forward are in place. I understand it is frustrating. There have been times when staff has put recommendations to Council and they have not been accepted.
Peter Dowling asked if the Administrators were aware that the section of Maud Street between Moorabool Street and Gheringhap Street is about to undergo a full road reconstruction with works due to start this Thursday, 2 March and expected to take approximately nine weeks (weather permitting).
Council has advised residents by letter that all vehicles be placed out of the street as access will be restricted between 7am and 4pm.
As this affects 37 properties plus another five that are under construction.
Can Council issue all affected residents with vehicular access from Maud Street with a “Carte Blanche” resident permit which allows them to park in nearby and possibly not so nearby streets?
William Tieppo responded he would make contact with Mr Dowling in relation to his suggestion.
Judy Fyfe asked the following questions re the Saleyards in relation to the 24 January Council Meeting, and in particular about detailed financial reports:
When will the breakdown of the categories of the Income and Expenditure Table be available as discussed at a meeting with Council staff on 20 February?
Could the Saleyard Users Group please be provided with the budgets for the Saleyard operations for the last ten years and the current year?
Does the Council have any strategy in place to compensate/reimburse livestock producers or transport operators for extra cartage costs to Ballarat or Colac, since the Geelong yards closed in August 2016; this was mentioned last year?
Kathy Alexander responded that she would be happy to hear proposals of how Council could support people who were inconvenienced, and to be perfectly frank we have not received any feedback. We are still prepared to offer support and ask you and your colleagues to advise what those supports may be.
Peter Dorling added the Saleyards Advisory Committee will help deal with the issue.
Reiny Nieuwenhof addressed Council in relation to Amendment C341:
As President of the G & D VVAA and on behalf of our Association I wish to express our support for Amendment C341 – a Heritage Overlay for the area designated as the Vietnam Veterans Avenue of Honour.
Kathy Alexander thanked Mr Nieuwenhof for his comments.
Clive West asked what is the Budget or top figure allocated to “Our Future”?
Kathy Alexander responded the question be taken on notice. She added the report provided by the Commission of Inquiry required that the “Our Future” project be developed to gain a long term community vision for the municipality of Geelong.
Laurdina Gardner added she was confident the staff involved will deliver within the allocated budget.
Ron Nelson presented a petition as a resident in close proximity to 4 North Valley Road, Highton, objecting to Application 51/2017 (City of Greater Geelong), and requests the Administrators call this matter before Council so that objectors and concerned residents can make their feeling known to the Administrators and can be voted on accordingly.
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